Verminlord Deceiver

The Verminlord Deceiver !

I always loved that miniature, though, I couldn't see myself buying it due to how fragile it looked...

So, the size was an issue... It might sounds stupid when obviously you want a "big guy".

It was thus, an opportunity to tweak it and find a cool pose and motion while having a coherent base with the rest of the army. Plus I wanted to carry it safely, and thus minimizing the space and volume the miniature may take in my Gw case.

Having processed that, the idea really came quickly with cutting the Verminlord in two... 

Risky bet, but I was convinced that, somehow, he could be pictured as "springing" from the earth and attacking a city; well "THE" cobbled city where my army and story takes life.

I remember cutting it just above both ankles. I had to glue the first part of the tail, and cut the rest. 

Several additional changes crossed my mind like changing the left arm for the pestilens version while keeping the throwing star. 

I first put, on the left hand part, my cobblestone layer, on wich I glued the Verminlord, I then added some green stuff around the now empty ankles to fix him to the base. 

Then started the messy stuff, I added GW sand, and bits of red brick (that you can find from your local Model Shop), and broken part of my cobblestones, to cover the ankles and the tail that are completely cut. It helped me hide part of the miniature, and add a bit of coherence to the fact that he destroyed part of the city and "flies" toward the rest of it.             

 

I added bigger stones that you can find with the GW sands and painted them in green (recipe found in older articles), to represent Warpstones.

I used different colors for my gold, with a base of Retributor Armor, I then added some Nuln Oil to darken it, and went for a second layer of pure Retributor Armor. I then added some Waywatcher Green, quite heavily on the recesses. Then a mix of Retributor and Runefang Steel on some edges. To finish with somes dots of Ryza Rust and Nihilakh Oxide here and there.

I added a bit of "life", using the ruin provided with the Verminlord kit, I also added the jumping rat that comes with the Greey Seer.

        

Cheers

Assassins & Deathrunner

Eshin Hero time !

Well, this assassin is actually THE miniature that triggered enough motivation to start the whole Skaven army project.

I always loved that Greey Seer, but somehow, I was picturing him as an assassin.

I therefore used the following kit:

Screaming Bell: Greey Seer body; Bell

Spirit Hosts: Dague and Hand.

There is not much work here, I made the hoody and the "leather" on the wrist with Greenstuff. I of course had to remove the Greey Seer horns to make the hood fit.

The second assassin received simple modifications, the whole miniature comes from the Silver Tower Box set. Since I really did not like that Deathrunner when I first saw it, the idea of painting two was daunting. (Him + his reflection)

Frankly the concept of that rat, by itself looks far too much "Riktus or Mors" and could easily be converted into a Warlord.

Kristobal helped me overcome that situation and actually made some basic leathery lanyards out of green stuff to give an Eshin feeling to the miniature.

Painting wise there is nothing new, that's the same recipe I described on my first posts.

To finish, I use as my Skaven Deathrunner, the Gutter Runners from the Blood Bowl kit, their motion looks awesome and they look just fine as a representation of a Deathrunner, deadly, swift, plus they fit well in the Eshin range, and they are two of those in a box :D.

Cheers!

Gutter Runners ! Second wave !

Let's keep with the Eshin vibe, just because Ninja rats!

I got a crush on those ones really,
I used the following kits:

Plague Furnace: Skaven crew

Clanrats: 1 skaven bodies, weapons

DoomWheel: Skaven crew

Spirit Host: hands

I guess tackling those 5 guys was a joy, they are amongst the top Skaven made by GW during the past years, and by far the best Pestilens, I would love to see more of those and maybe one day having a wider range!
I mainly got rid of the horns and some bulbs, I used a bit of green stuff to make some more tissues and to lengthen their skirts (a bit unimaginative, but modelling a foot turned to be a disaster)

Even though they look dirty and Quasimodo-like, I really love them !

Putting things into perspective I noticed that they would have been perfect as a base for Skryre Acolyte. But hey, I'll use those to backstab my enemies !!

Cheers !

Gutter Runners ! First wave !

Let's HIDE !

The idea behind the crazily innovative and clumsy Skaven has always been cool, and the clan Skryre represents this concept extremely well. But let's face it... What's better than a NINJA RAT!

Yeah, you got it, I'm a huge fan of the Eshin concept. and I want it to be a core clan in my project. However the range is currently not so well "furbished", to say the least...

What does that mean? I have to use my modelling skills... And frankly, most of the time it's pretty tragic, although In the end I always end up convincing myself that I have to practice or else, get those terrible 30 years old gutter runners.

I think this project started thanks to Max Faleij work.

His step by step is just awesome, and gives a vibe of sneakery and Eshiness that represents perfectly what the Eshin clan is, to me.

http://stockholmwarpaint.com/post/101768931557/eshin-gutter-runners-after-abandoning-my-first

By the way, the whole website is awesome !

I therefore used the following kits:

Plagueclaw Catapult: Rats

Island of Blood: Pack master body and some dagues

Spirit Host: Hands

The painting recipe is the same as usual.

The black is applied the following way: base of Abaddon Black, lining of Sotek Green, I enlighten it with a bit of Celestra Grey and I end up with pure Celestra Grey on the edges. The lighter your paint, the lesser you tend to apply it, as you don't want to cover the previous layer.

 

I tried as much as possible, to give a sneaky vibe just by repositioning the arms, hands and weapons. Most of the time the greenstuff is here to hide the joints between the arms and the hands. It's pretty messy but it looks okish in the end.

Cya rats !

Warlock Engineer & Arch-Warlock aka: Professor Xavier

Some more Skryre !!!

The first one freshly came out with the re-edition of "Island of Blood"

I didn't change my approach with that one regarding the painting, I might just have added some Typhus Corrosion on the blade.
The skull has been painted with a base of Zandri Dust, enlightened up with a mix of Ushabti Bone and the previous paint, with a final touch of pure Ceramite White on the edges.

 

I painted the thin rope with a base of Abaddon Black , I went for a thing lining of Sotek Green , on which I'll add some Celestra Grey. I'll finish with some pure Celestra grey that I apply very slightly.

The skin received some shades of Reikland Fleshshade, or Carroburg Crimson (I add a lot of water to my mix as I found that otherwise the pigments are far too strong and will ruin your previous layers of skin).

Arch-Warlock !!!!!!
I didn't think too much for the name of my second hero,  Professor Xavier, I used the following kits to make it.

Deathwheel Skaven : Pilote, head and seat
Plagueclaw Catapult: Wooden wheels, and right arm
Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Rangers: The gun, left arm and the Talkie-Walkie.
Skaven Warlord: The banner
Weapon team Warpfire Thrower: The backpack.
Regarding the small wheels, Kristobal provided them, therefore I have no clue where they come from.

The idea was to have an old rat on his rocking chair carrying around his Winchester.

In game the Arch-Warlock is super badass and freakingly tough. For its point, he is a very good deal, plus, he is riding a wheelchair !!

I really enjoyed the conversion, regarding the painting process, you can find everything in the following article.

See ya rats !

A cobble is thrown.

Finally my first article !

There is a lot to say about this project, the motivation behind the blog, and its origins. I guess I'll dedicate in the near future some time for this matter, to put a better frame to our work. Yes, "our work", the two others will introduce themselves in a more appropriate article ;).

I'm Morgle, and well, I got in love with spiky and smelly things.
As you guessed, there are a lot of weird things that would fit that list, but for that time we will focus on SKAVEN !!!!

To be frank, years ago when I  discovered the hobby, I hated them. I hated the idea of being contrived to paint hundreds of miniatures... Being more attracted by the painting side of the hobby, I couln't see myself dedicating a couple of hours on each miniatures...

Well... Age of Sigmar signed my doom...

A wide range of painters keep inspiring me, some of those blogs are famous in our small community, for instance you HAVE to have a look at the "Blog des Kouzes". Crazy artists, they all come up with well rounded ideas, and with new concepts in term of conversions and paintings.

I started this Skaven army with the idea that I always loved the atmospher Mordheim provided. For this reason, you'll find my army base with a simple layer of cobblestones.

I just went to the closest model kit store, where I purchased a kit called:
WILLS (SSMP204) Granite Setts, building material pack.

Nothing crazy here, some GW plastic glue will be perfect to fix it to your bases. The same way the GW glue melts GW plastic, it does the same effect here. You'll just need to properly clean your base by sanding the edges so that it properly fits. It will just take you a couple of minutes to have something clean.

I use the following shades for my base in the following order:

Nuln Oil (GW)

Athonian Camoshade  (GW)

Agrax Earthshade (GW)

Seraphim Sepia (GW)

Sometimes, I finish with some shades of Waywatcher Green (GW) in order to get a semblance of moss.

Nothing special regarding the Weapon Team.

I spray them in Corax White (GW), I think I got traumatised when I was a kid when spraying in black, I couldn't see details, and I was overlaying everything, finishing with a thick layer of jam on my miniature... Not so satisfying, hence my preference for a white base, I just feel I can properly read or see details on the miniature.

Regarding the skin, I just went for a "copy pasta" of the recipe you can get on "Le blog dé Kouzes".

You go with the following proportion (picked up directly from your pot, with something like a medium size brush (GW) )

10 drops of Mat varnish (I use the Pébéo Brand)

5 drops of Nuln Oil (GW)

1 drop of Drakenhof Nightshade (GW)

Tissues and skirts

Base of Khorne Red (GW)

I darken my base with a layer of Nuln Oil (GW)

I go for a layer of  Mephiston Red (GW), only recesses are kept away from the painting process now on. I focus on the edges and prominent areas with Evil Sunz Scarlet (GW), then edges only with Lugganath Orange (GW)

The tails are layered with Ceramite White (GW), I wash it down with some Nuln Oil (GW) and I finish with a wash of Carroburg Crimson.

The green, is done with a base of Moot Green (GW), I'll keep enlightning it with some Flash Gitz Yellow (GW) with 2 successive layers,  then I finish with pure Flash Gitz Yellow.

For every metalic parts, I start with a base of Balthasar Gold (GW), then with a wash of Druchii Violet (GW), then I finish with a mix of Balthasar Gold + Runefang Steel (a mix of  50/50). I sometimes add, in recesses only, some Nihilakh Oxide (GW)

Cheers !